A Different Kind of Locksmith Scam
I’ve been reading about this guy in Canada who was recently arrested for fraud charges, after the police had received multiple reports of a guy going door to door asking for money to hire a locksmith. His claim was that he had been locked out of his house and needed money to hire a locksmith to come and open his door for him. He promised to repay the money to those home owners that he visited, but of course he never did. The reports listed that he had done this at dozens of houses.
So I guess this is a step up from asking for money on the street corner. Even then you don’t know if that person is actually in need. A good number of people make a living off of grifting. The person will go out with their sign or just themselves and ask passers by for money. Then they get picked up by their accomplices at the end of the day.
This of course ruins things for the true homeless and destitute, which need a helping hand.
Back to the Canadian story, I wonder how much this guy actually got doing this. The fraud claim against him is for counts under $5000, but I still wonder how much. Generosity varies from person to person. He may have been a very convincing character, but only those involved know for sure.